China records 269 imported COVID-19 cases in 10 days

Staff members check the information of passengers entering China at the Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, east China, March 18, 2020. /Xinhua

China's imported COVID-19 cases increased from 85 to 269 between March 11, when the World Health Organization (WHO) labeled the outbreak as a "pandemic," and March 21, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on Saturday.

Friday marked the third consecutive day that no new local infections were reported in the country. However, China registered a record rise in imported coronavirus cases on Friday, said Mi Feng, a spokesperson for the NHC, stressing the need to prevent a possible resurgence of the outbreak.

China's imported coronavirus cases rose 216 percent in the past 10 days, as the world's confirmed cases increased 98 percent in the same period, according to Mi.

Beijing reported 14 new imported cases of COVID-19 on Friday, a local official.

Pang Xinghuo, deputy director of the Beijing Center for Disease Prevention and Control, said half of the confirmed cases were from the UK, two from the United States, two from Spain, and one from France, Netherlands and Italy each.

An inbound passenger prepares to board the transfer vehicle at the New China International Exhibition Center in Beijing, March 17, 2020. /Xinhua

The newly confirmed cases from overseas came aboard 11 flights, said Pang.

With no new local infections in at least 14 consecutive days, the city said on Saturday that its district-level designated medical institutions have suspended admitting and treating COVID-19 patients starting Friday midnight.

The medical institution that no longer receives COVID-19 cases will resume daily medical treatment services comprehensively from midnight Sunday following thorough disinfection, according to an official with the local health commission.